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Home > Cricket > Columns > Daniel Laidlaw
December 12, 2001
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Spin twins remain apart

Daniel Laidlaw

The selection of Stuart MacGill in the Australian XII for Friday’s first Test of the much-anticipated World championship battle between Australia and South Africa in Adelaide gives rise to some intriguing questions.

It's been more than two-and-a-half years since Australia’s pair of premiere leg-spinners last played together. When the combination was last split, for the final Test of the remarkable 1999 "Lara series" against the West Indies in the Caribbean, it was at the expense of an out-of-form Warne, not MacGill. And despite the recent denial of a rift between the pair after reports of indifferent relations between them, Warne cannot have forgotten what happened to him the last time they played a series together.

Since then, it is MacGill who has been largely left out in cold, playing only when Warne has been injured and compiling an impressive Test record of 75 wickets at 25.02 from 16 matches (including 7/104 in the first innings of his last, the fifth Test against West Indies in January this year) after making his debut in Adelaide in 1997/’98, during Australia’s last series against South Africa. Unfortunately for MacGill, who happens to be playing in the same era as Australia’s highest wicket-taker and arguably its best ever leg-spinner, he is no closer to becoming a Test regular than he was then.

Although it's unlikely there is any actual antipathy between them, to the outsider it does appear that Warne and MacGill are vastly contrasting personalities. MacGill, though, seems to have a personality in contrast with most Australian cricketers.

Intense and thoughtful, MacGill is well-spoken and likes reading and wine. Warne has published two autobiographies, but projects the image of the knockabout larrikin not interested in anything more meaningful than a beer and a laugh. One suspects that behind the bonhomie they have little in common except their bowling craft and poor behavioural records.

However much fun it is to speculate on the true nature of their relationship and the rare possibility of a division within the Australian team, the primary reason for their incompatibility is strictly on-field. Despite boasting excellent individual statistics, Warne and MacGill have puzzlingly performed poorly together. More accurately, Warne has bowled poorly when playing alongside MacGill.

There is more than one possible reason for this. At first glance, it appears that as a bowling combination, they do not complement one other. As leg-spinners, both their stock deliveries turn away from the right-hander, leading to the impression that the similarity in their bowling makes it easier for batsmen to settle in against leg-spin from both ends than having to adjust to facing leg-spin at one end and pace or off-spin at the other. For this reason, it is said that Warne prefers bowling with an off-spinner, such as Colin Miller (presently struggling to be picked for Victoria, with just 4 wickets at 79.50 from three games this season), who turns the ball the opposite way and forces the batsman to adjust to two different types of bowling.

Then there is also the sound theory that as a "normal" leg-spinner, MacGill bowls a typical number of bad balls and thus fails to create all-important pressure for Warne at the other end in the manner of a parsimonious Glenn McGrath. That has considerable merit, but it still cannot be the only reason for the ineffectiveness of the Warne-MacGill pairing.

To begin with, although they are both leg-spinners, they hardly have similar styles. MacGill spins the ball more and tends to bowl an off-stump line, whereas Warne spins it a little less and bowls a line more often outside leg. MacGill possesses an excellent wrong’un, while Warne is the more accurate and crafty. There seems an inclination to bracket them as similar bowlers simply because they are both leg-spinners, where the resemblance begins and ends, but then again that happens to all types of bowlers who are not right-arm pacemen.

The overriding reason for Warne’s below average returns in partnership with MacGill appears to be injury. In the Caribbean two years ago, Warne was returning from a shoulder operation and his mediocre figures then were understandable. Perhaps seeing his position threatened by MacGill, he may also have pushed himself too hard and bowled badly as a result. In four of his five Tests with MacGill, Warne was still regaining form after that injury. In the other, in Adelaide, he quite simply had an average match on one of his less successful Australian grounds – it need not have any deeper significance than that.

In any case, it is probably all moot. The pitch is reportedly likely to dictate Australia retain an unchanged XI and continue, quite justifiably, to place faith in their battery of quicks. Left-arm chinaman Michael Bevan and offie Colin Miller have 10-wicket hauls in Adelaide, but Warne’s best innings figures are 4/31. Adelaide is his second-worst Australian venue after Perth. Unless five bowlers are boldly selected, picking two leggies is most likely superfluous.

The way the Adelaide wicket wears, fast bowlers are equally suited to exploiting the inconsistent bounce in the latter stages of the match. After a lean start to the summer, it would not be at all surprising to see the unheralded champion McGrath claim the greatest share of the spoils along with his counterpart Shaun Pollock.

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